4 Ways to Make Your Resume Mobile Friendly

Blog, Resumes, Social Media Profiles & Bios

By Lisa Rangel

One of the job hunting trends we’re seeing in 2015 is the rise of mobile recruiting. While moving in the direction of mobile has been going on for some time, a 2014 LinkedIn report suggests that because candidates have become so keen on looking for jobs on their phones that companies are starting to put forth more effort in their mobile recruiting efforts.What does this mean for you? The bad news is if you aren’t already using your phone to look for a job then you’re behind. The good news is that companies are just starting to get the ball rolling with their mobile recruiting campaigns, so you still have time to make your resume mobile friendly.

Make it short, sweet and simple.

You don’t have a lot of room on the screen of a mobile phone. As such your cover letter should be as short as a screenshot on your phone.Furthermore, for certain social media channels - such as LinkedIn statuses or Twitter updates - you’ll need to keep your communication to 140 characters or less.Lastly, your resume should also be short and concise. You typically have to do this anyway, the only difference is you need to make sure it reads well on a mobile device.

Use job search apps.

Another trend we’re seeing in 2015 is that the resume as we know it may be on its way out. Simply put, LinkedIn and other job search apps could easily replace a traditional resume.You may want to start downloading some job search apps on your phone and learning your way around them. The LinkedIn app lets you do everything you can do on your desktop. Other apps notify you of job leads in your area and let you send your resume to companies directly from your phone.Click here for a full list of apps for the executive job search.

Test your resume on different devices to ensure it opens properly.

Mobile recruiting doesn’t always refer to a phone, it includes tablets too. Furthermore, an Android phone and an iPhone have different screen sizes and programs for opening documents such as PDFs.Make sure to test your resume and cover letter files on different devices. Check for how it reads on the screen (you don’t want any words being cut off) and if it even opens at all. There’s nothing more embarrassing than sending your resume to someone and them not being able to open it.

Use your mobile number instead of a landline on your resume.

So much of the hiring process these days can be done over text messaging. In fact, if a company is using an applicant tracking system they could very well be corresponding with you via text message as well as email. It’s easy, convenient and typically much more effective for getting a candidate’s attention.That’s why it’s important to make sure you have a mobile phone number on your resume. This way you’re not leaving out any modality that can be used to contact you.

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About Lisa

Lisa Rangel & the Chameleon Resumes team is the only Executive Resume Writing, LinkedIn Profile Development & Job Search Coaching consultancy firm hired by LinkedIn and recognized by Forbes as a Top 100 Career Website.